Local Government Finance (Wales) Act 2024

16 Overview of Part 2

(1) This Part amends the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (c. 14) (“the 1992 Act”), in relation to Wales, as follows.

(2) Section 17 restates existing powers of the Welsh Ministers to amend valuation bands of dwellings, and also enables the Welsh Ministers to amend the valuation band used as an average in formulas applied under sections 36 and 47 of the 1992 Act used to calculate the amount of council tax that is payable.

(3) Section 18(2) and (3) disapplies provisions in sections 6 and 9 of the 1992 Act about the persons who are exempt from being jointly and severally liable to pay council tax in respect of a chargeable dwelling, and replaces them with a power for the Welsh Ministers to prescribe by regulations which persons are to be exempt.

(4) Section 18(4) and (5) disapplies provisions in section 11 of the 1992 Act for discounts (of percentages specified in section 11 or by order) to be applicable where there is only one resident of a chargeable dwelling (or only one who is not disregarded for the purpose of a discount), or where there is no resident (or all residents are disregarded), and replaces them with—

(a) provision for discounts (of amounts prescribed, or calculated in accordance with provision prescribed, by the Welsh Ministers in regulations) to apply where there is only one resident (or only one who is not disregarded for the purpose of a discount), or where all of a dwelling’s residents are disregarded,

(b) a power for the Welsh Ministers to provide by regulations that discounts apply where other criteria are met,

(c) a power for the Welsh Ministers to make provision about cases where more than one discount applies (including about how much council tax is payable), and

(d) a power for the Welsh Ministers to prescribe by regulations classes of dwelling for which a billing authority may determine that a lesser discount, or no discount, applies.

(5) In consequence—

(a) section 18(6) repeals section 12 of the 1992 Act, which related to the specific discount that applied where there was no resident, and which included a power for a billing authority to determine that (for classes of dwelling prescribed by the Welsh Ministers) a lesser discount, or no discount, applied;

(b) section 18(7) amends section 12A of the 1992 Act so that where a billing authority determines that the amount of council tax payable in respect of long-term empty dwellings is subject to a percentage increase, the authority will no longer disapply the (for Wales, repealed) no-resident discount, and will instead subtract any applicable discount after adding the percentage increase;

(c) section 18(8) amends section 12B of the 1992 Act (higher amount for dwellings occupied periodically) in the same ways as section 18(7) amends section 12A.

(6) Section 18 also disapplies Schedule 1 to the 1992 Act (which, together with section 11(5), made provision about persons disregarded for the purposes of determining whether a discount applies), and replaces it with a power for the Welsh Ministers to prescribe by regulations who is disregarded for the purposes of discount.

(7) Section 19—

(a) changes the power in section 13 of the 1992 Act, that enables the Welsh Ministers to make regulations providing for persons liable to pay council tax to pay a reduced amount in some circumstances, into an obligation to make such regulations,

(b) repeals the power in section 13A for the Welsh Ministers to require a person or body to make a council tax reduction scheme and related provisions, and

(c) amends section 66(2) of the 1992 Act to add matters prescribed or provided for in accordance with subsection (1) or (2) of section 13 to a list of matters that may not be questioned except by an application for judicial review.

(8) Section [ ] replaces the obligations on billing authorities in sections 12A, 12B and 38 of the 1992 Act to publish notices in a newspaper with an obligation to publish those notices electronically, and to make alternative arrangements for those unable to access notices electronically.

(9) Section 20 changes section 22B of the 1992 Act so that the Welsh Ministers’ power to specify the year when new valuation lists must be compiled for billing authorities in Wales cannot be exercised to specify a year later than 2029. It also introduces a requirement for such lists to be compiled in 2030 and every 5 years after that (although the years can be changed, by order, by the Welsh Ministers).